Ghost in the Machine
by Child of Ragnarok
Summary: When agitated, the WAU forces her to attack and she is powerless to resist, yet fully aware. Is there possibly a worse fate? Set in the Robot Girl's POV. Rated T for character death. SPOILER ALERT! (Formerly known as "And I Weep")
1. The Man-Thing

**Disclaimer: SOMA and its characters, locations and concepts are the property of Frictional Games. This is a fan work that is not intended to monetize in any way. Please support the official release.**

* * *

 **GHOST IN THE MACHINE**

 _ **by Child of Ragnarok**_

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1: The Man-Thing**

I was headed for Theta, in a desperate bid to save me and everyone else from the WAU. The last I remember is cold, and wet, and the fear of what would happen when my dive suit inevitably failed, and the searing pain of that... thing... biting off my right arm and left foot, and then the darkness...

And then I snap back to reality. I mournfully watch my reflection in the nearest shiny thing (a battery pack compartment), seeing a face that used to be human, but is now just a jumbled mess of electronics, structure gel and implants, all with the same eerie blue glow. The WAU cobbled me together and brought me back to life... or something like that. Or maybe I'm just in hell. I don't know. And I weep for it.

I don't know how many times I've cried out for God to save me from this, this wretched existence. God never answered. Or maybe God is the WAU. I don't know anymore. I don't know if I care. And I weep for it.

I don't even recognize the voice that comes out of what I suppose is the WAU's artificial replacement for the vocal cords I no longer have. And I weep for it, with an unfamiliar voice.

The WAU left my mind intact. I can remember what I've done to those few poor souls who ventured near me. Something comes over me, takes over my brain, forces me to viciously attack every living thing that approaches me... And I weep for it.

Suddenly, I tense up and feel a sudden sense of hostility. Something is near me. I feel the pincer that now replaces my right hand involuntarily opening and closing in a threatening manner. I'm driven to turn around.

It looks humanoid, wearing a Theta dive suit, but a quick glance into its helmet reveals only a Cortex Chip. Looks like another of the WAU's attempts at playing God. It's holding a battery pack in its shaking hand – evidently, it came in here just for the battery. It must need the battery for something – it can't just have come in here randomly – but I can't tell what. Every bit of its body language radiates fear. I imagine the thing must be almost as afraid as I am.

The man-thing takes a hesitant step back and I feel an involuntary rage building up, the precursor to me losing all control of myself. "Don't!" I try to scream at it. "Stay away from me!" But my voice is distorted and I can't get the words out.

Immediately, I realize that it's the wrong thing to do, as the thing turns tail and begins to run. My voice box shrieks in fury. Within me, I shriek in anguish. I know what's about to happen, and I can't do a damn thing to prevent it.

Out of their own volition, my legs start running toward the entity, and my arms stretch out. I'm closing in, despite my best efforts to the contrary, my best efforts to stop myself, to get back in control of that hideous experiment of nature that's called my "body".

My pincer snags the thing's leg, and it – he – screams in pain and terror as he is tripped and falls onto the floor. I begin sobbing as I move to remove his helmet, unable to prevent myself from doing so, unable to tune out his desperate pleas for his life. "I'm sorry", I sob to him, "please forgive me, I'm so sorry, I can't help it..."

His helmet comes off from my ministrations, and I flip him over. His Cortex Chip head stares into my eyes, and his entire body tenses up in unspeakable fear. Apparently, the WAU is not quite done having its fun yet. A desperate cry – from him, from me, maybe from both of us – as I grab the Cortex Chip with my pincer. "I'm sorry, God, I'm so sorry, please forgive me..." My desperate pleas for his forgiveness mingle with his desperate pleas for me to stop, as my claw tightens ever so slowly, probably to serve as sick amusement for the WAU.

And then there's a crunch and the casing of the Cortex Chip gives way. A few sparks, a wisp of smoke, and the man-thing's pleading stops. Yet another senseless death, carried out through me by someone whose intentions I can't begin to comprehend. God. The WAU. I don't know. Maybe they're one and the same. I don't know.

The WAU's influence over me is released. He is apparently satisfied that the human thing is dead. I fall to my knees next to the human thing, grasping in vain at its slackened limbs, desperately begging for it to wake up, to forgive me, to understand... but it's all in vain.

And I weep.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **For some reason, the Robot Girl (as the SOMA Wiki calls her) enemy in SOMA really got to me. At first, she scared the bejeebers out of me. Now, with some Fridge Logic in the baggage, she makes me more sad than scared. Some (me included) theorize that she's actually aware of what's going on and what she's become, but unable to control herself if provoked, and that's why she's crying while idle and tells the player to get away from her when she's alerted. So I figured I'd try to write this little piece from her point of view.**


	2. The Hunt

**CHAPTER 2:** **The Hunt**

I don't know how long it's been. It could have been a minute, or an hour, or a day. I stopped keeping track of time a long time ago. There's no meaning to it. The WAU will make sure I stay around to do my assigned duty, one way or another. Considering that he managed to duct tape me together and bring me back to life even after my head was ripped clean off my shoulders, I don't doubt that he can easily tether me to life. The question is whether or not the life in question is worth living.

I take a last glance toward the deceased man-thing, and I'm suddenly unable to stay in this room. With what little mobility is left to me, I lumber out of the room. I'm not sure where I'm going. I'm not sure where _to_ go. But I can't stand being in that stuffy room with the man-thing and what the WAU did... what _I_ did to him.

I shamble about aimlessly for a time. I spend most of that time crying, my face in my hands... well, my hand and my pincer. I don't really need to look around. I know Omicron like the back of my hand... pincer... whatever. My voice box shudders in a weak attempt at a hollow laugh.

When I look up, I find myself in the cafeteria. I don't even feel hungry anymore. I haven't felt any sort of hunger, or thirst, since the WAU brought me back to this. Maybe he's blocking off my sense of hunger, maybe I simply don't have the mental capability to experience those senses anymore. Which is probably just as well – the neon tube the WAU provided for a neck is a handy light source, true, but swallowing is apparently not part of the base package.

Another hollow laugh. That's strange. I don't really recall that I've used humor as a coping mecanism. Maybe I'm finally regaining some of my humanity. Or, more likely, maybe I'm about to snap. I greet this comprehension with a mixed bag of feelings; sure, it'd be nice to lose my damn gourd and not have to worry about anything, but then I'd lose what little humanity I have left.

A headless body sits at the table next to a laptop. I replay the recorded logs, just to get a sense of what's been going on, but there's not much. Just some talk about Raleigh Herber inquiring about Alpha, and then Julia Dahl gives a brief scream of pain before suddenly going quiet. I imagine the end point of that conversation is the crimson splatters on the monitor.

So. The WAU has killed everybody at Omicron. But why? Wasn't he supposed to preserve life? And why not me? I wasn't at Omicron when it happened, but surely I couldn't simply have been out of the signal's range? Or did he want to make an _example_ of me? Maybe torture me because I tried to get help? I'll never know. I'm not sure I want to.

I resume my shambling. On occasion, I think I hear something moving, or maybe see something in the corner of my eye. But I chalk it up to my imagination, since the WAU would have registered anything and forced me to attack it.

When I look up next, I'm in the medical bay. And the reason I'm looking up is because I start to feel that sense of hostility that can only mean one thing. The WAU has locked on to a potential threat. And I'm his proxy to get rid of it. Forced by someone else's hand, I look up at the intruder.

It... it can't be.

It's the man-thing from before, looking almost identical to his past incarnation. I thought the WAU... _I_... killed it... him. So why is he still alive if he's a threat to the WAU?

I don't have time to reflect on this. The man-thing is looking somewhat antsy, but he appears to have gathered something from his last incarnation. He knows what set me off last time.

"Wait." I feel slightly calmer this time around. "I'll... calm down in a moment."

He nods almost imperceptively and stands motionlessly, waiting for me to calm down.

But I won't calm down. The WAU is concerned. Most likely about the items the man-thing is holding. The battery pack from the power room, a Cortex Chip and a tub of structure gel. I don't know what he could possibly want these items for, but it appears that the WAU has an inkling, because my aggression is starting to rise.

"It's... it's not working..." I manage to choke out between increasingly agitated growls. "Go." I start sobbing while I move back from him, using my last moments of self-control to put as much distance between myself and him as possible.

The man-thing begins to slowly move towards the dive room. He's about a third of the way down the corridor when my mind bursts with the WAU's realization - he's going for the power suits. He wants to get into the abyss, for some reason. And with it comes that burst of hostility that I know means that I will be out for blood. The moment before my metallic foot heavily connects to the steel floor to begin my sprint for the target, I manage to shout one word.

 _"Run!"_

I don't know if it's the panic in my voice or my heavy footfalls heading for him as fast as I can, but he obeys me and runs for all he's worth. It's not a long way down the corridor, but I'm still catching up. He's going to get through the corridor, and... then what? There's nowhere for him to run.

The moment he clears the entrance to the dive room, I hear him frantically yell for a "Cath" to lock the door. The heavy steel passageway slides shut, and a moment later, I collide with it. I pound on it with the aggressivity and desperation of an AI who, despite all its power to keep people alive, cannot breach a locked door and is aware of it. But the man-thing won this time. _We_ won this time.

And I weep for... as close to joy as I can get in this hellhole.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **This fanfiction was originally intended to be a oneshot, but there has been interest in more chapters, so I figured I'd continue. There will be one more chapter after this one.**

 **As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.**


	3. Never Alone

**CHAPTER 3: Never Alone**

The WAU is frightened. I can tell. Neither he nor I has any idea of what's going on in the dive room, and it desperately seems to want access, to neutralize the threat of the resurrected man-thing.

So I keep pounding on the door, clawing at it, roaring. But this time, I allow myself a facsimile of a victorious grin. I'm the corpse of a wiry girl with a cybernetic pincer, which augments my grip strength but doesn't provide me with any additional muscle mass. I'm not going to get through here in a million years, and I suspect the WAU knows it. But that doesn't mean he's not going to try.

I don't even know why the WAU is so keen on getting in there. It has to have been... an hour?... since I chased the man-thing into the dive room. He's probably in the abyss by now.

This thought gives me no particular pleasure. The WAU almost certainly has monsters on patrol down there. More hideous things than me. And if one of those things would be wearing a power suit, it'd be a problem.

I have no idea what he's trying to do, but I send a quick prayer for the man-thing to whatever God might be listening. Even if that god would be the WAU.

For a minute, for an hour, for three hours, for an eternity, I stand there, pounding on the door. I have no idea why. There can't be anyone in there now.

I stand there, pounding on the door, clawing at it, roaring... and then, I suddenly stop. My mind is my own again.

I can't believe it. Why did the WAU release its influence on me so suddenly? And why does it feel so... different... to the other times?

I allow myself to sit down for a bit. I haven't sat down in forever, it feels like. While the action is relaxing, it also brings a lot of small pains to my attention. My left foot is killing me. I'm not sure how the WAU put it together, but apparently he didn't exactly tailor it to my severed leg. The floor is cold, just like everything else. My thoughts keep drifting back to the man-thing. I wonder how he's doing. And what he's doing.

I feel myself dozing off. That's novel. I can't even remember how sleep feels. I imagine it must be wonderful, to simply disconnect for a few hours without a care in the world. Surely I must have slept in my previous life. How curious that I would have taken something like that for granted. Would my dreams still be my own? Or would they also be nightmares concocted by the WAU?

I'm shaken awake by a sharp metallic grating and the electronic sound that signifies an unlocked door. I open my eyes to near darkness, pierced only by the red emergency lights and the soft blue emitted by my own body. So the generators are gone. That's strange. Why would the generators not work? And why hasn't the WAU voiced its concerns about this turn of events to me yet?

My musings are cut short by soft sobbing somewhere in the dive room. I recognize the voice. The man-thing.

The door is open. I shouldn't. I really shouldn't enter. The last thing the man-thing needs is for me to show up and give him a coronary. I've killed him once and tried to do so a second time. I doubt he'd be overly happy to see me. But curiosity gets the better of me, and I warily step inside, ready to retreat at a moment's notice if I should start to feel aggravated.

The man-thing is sitting in the pilot seat, sobbing to himself and muttering under his breath about Catherine. The only Catherine I know would be Dr. Chun, but why would he have joined up with her? And why would she have betrayed him?

Suddenly, he looks up from the pilot seat and visibly tenses up. I cringe, waiting for the aggression to swallow me, but it doesn't come. That's odd. Why would the WAU not order me to tear him to shreds right now?

"Oh, God..." the man-thing stutters out. "H-how'd you get in? D-don't come any closer!"

I hold up my hands... well, my hand and my pincer... in a gesture of goodwill. "The door was open. Don't worry, it's alright."

"Alright?" His posture in the chair has changed, from extreme fear to anger. "Alright?! Look at this! I'm stuck in a bloody apocalypse with a freaking robot girl monster! What part of this is alright?"

He continues to spew vitriol for a bit, at me, at the WAU, at Catherine, at everything. I simply stand there. I feel... safe. If the WAU had wanted the man-thing dead, he would have been dead by now. And in all likelihood, the WAU would have registered this aggression against me and perceived it as a threat. The WAU doesn't. Maybe that means...

He's trying to catch his breath, and I interrupt. "What's your name?"

"Huh?"

"What's your name?" I lower my arms, standing completely idle and relaxed. Maybe that will help him understand that I don't mean him any harm.

"What's it to you?! You've already killed me, you psycho!"

I flinch at the renewed, if justified, aggression, but I don't make a move. I wouldn't forgive me either. I sit down at a safe distance from him, looking at him. He doesn't look away.

"...Simon."

"Simon?"

"Simon Jarrett."

I can't believe it. Did the WAU actually take _the_ Simon Jarrett from 2015 and stuff him into a Cortex Chip? Poor thing. He must be scared out of his wits at the entire situation.

"What about you"? the man-thi... Simon... asks. "Do you have a name?"

"Andrea." I hadn't thought about it until now, but it feels right. His question seems to have unlocked a memory of my past life. "Andrea Suther. I'm... I was... the Omicron archivist."

"What happened to you?" Simon asks.

I sigh. "We did an experiment with uncalibrated structure gel. We must have freaked the WAU out, because it started ruining things for us. They sent me to Theta to get help, but something attacked me on the way and... well, here I am."

Simon gives a hollow laugh. "So the WAU put you back together too, huh? Look at us, we're both freaks of nature."

I try to smile. "Couldn't agree more."

Simon goes silent for a while, and when he opens his mouth, the question comes out hesitatingly. "Why'd you do it?"

I know what he refers to, but I ask anyway. "Do what?"

"You know." He shrugs. "Why'd you kill me?"

"Oh." If I had had both my hands, I would have started rolling my thumbs right about now. I settle for just crossing my arms on my lap. "I... I'm sorry about that. The WAU made me do it."

"So you heard a voice in your head? God, that's like Terry Akers all over again..."

"No." I shake my head. "The WAU controlled me. I couldn't do anything about it, the WAU would just take control of my limbs and I couldn't do a damn thing."

"So why wouldn't the WAU take control of you now?" he demands.

I don't have an answer at first, because I mull through a few scenarios. There's a possible answer... but I can't get my hopes up without more information. "Where'd you get the structure gel?"

His posture is a little more defensive now. "Excuse me?"

"The structure gel. You were carrying a tub of structure gel when I chased you in here." It feels weird to talk so business-like about my latest attempt on his life, but it needs to be hashed out. "Where'd you get it?"

"Uh..." Simon looks like he's thinking. "In... a laboratory on the middle level, I think. Why? And why did you just start _smiling?"_ It's only when he points it out that I realize that I am, in fact, smiling.

"That was a special batch of structure gel." I fight to keep the excitement out of my face, lest I creep poor Simon out further. "It was made specifically to kill the WAU. If whoever had it found the WAU's heart, they could kill it."

Simon looks at me in near denial. "And you think somebody did?"

I nod.

"Huh." Simon seems a little doubtful, and I can't blame him. Then he shrugs. "I must be going mad for believing you, but I've really heard weirder." His shoulders twitch in a minuscule laugh. "Look at me. I'm so desperate for company that I'm talking to one of the WAU's monst... _creatures._ I'm sure Cath would have a field day with that one, if she hadn't taken off on her own?"

"Cath?" I feel obliged to inquire, ignoring his 'monsters' comment. That's probably how I appear to him. Hell, that's how I appear to _me._ "Catherine Chun?"

"That's the one", Simon nods. "You know her?"

"Who doesn't?" I shrug. "She always seemed a little... eccentric, but nice enough, and of course I got suckered into that ARK what-have-you like everybody else. I was skeptical at first, but hell, at that point we were ready to try anything to get away from the WAU." My lips twitch upward into what could pass as a rueful smile. "What about you? How do you know her?"

Simon shrugs. "After I had the brain scan with Dr. Munshi back in '15, I woke up at Upsilon with no idea where I was. I met up with Cath at Lambda and she told me about the ARK." His tone changes, and even though he doesn't have the capacity for it, I'm sure he's scowling. "She suckered me into doing the dirty work with a promise of a seat on the ARK. I just sat down in this seat, had the scan, and then nothing happened, and then I passed out, and when I woke up I was here and Cath was gone with the suit... the traitorous _bitch!"_ His tone rises to a shout, and he angrily slams his fist into the seat's armrest.

I really shouldn't probe. But his outburst and story awaken yet another memory of my former life. "Dr. Chun scanned you?"

He nods. "She was supposed to scan me into a power suit. Why?"

I look at him and carefully begin: "I... I don't think she actively betrayed you, Simon."

"How would you know that?!" I cringe a little. Wrong answer.

Nonetheless, I carry on. He needs to know this. "She explained the procedure to us before she did it. She could scan our brains and create digital consciousnesses, but she couldn't _transfer_ minds from one body to the next, only _copy_ them." He looks at me as incredulously as an expressionless robot man-thing can. "So my guess is that she _did_ copy you into a power suit, but your consciousness just didn't carry over."

"So there's another me in the abyss right now?" Simon asks, and I nod. "Christ... that's almost too freaky. I'm starting to think the Simon who died in 2015 got off easy."

He relaxes. "Thanks for explaining that. It really helped." He then looks at me almost apologectically. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm sorry."

I smile at him. "It's okay, Simon. I _did_ kill you once, after all. Fair is fair."

He laughs with just a hint of bitterness now. "I guess I owe Cath an apology too, if I see her again. I thought the worst of her." He sighs. "Sorry, I just didn't expect to be left alone."

"Or wind up with one of the WAU's monsters as your only company?" I smile teasingly.

"That too." He shrugs. "So... now what?"

I'm just about to respond when I feel a strange surge going through my mind, and my vision starts to blur.

"Hey..." Simon looks at me with trepidation. "You're flashing. What's going on?"

"I..." I hadn't considered the possibility. I don't know why. "I... think I'm shutting down."

"Shutting down?"

"Well, I _am_ mostly electronics." I smile shakily. "I guess the WAU kept me going somehow." My vision is getting blurrier, the light I'm emitting is fading, and I start seeing bouts of static. No doubt about it.

Simon is still looking at me. Now he radiates fear. But it's not the same fear he used to have. "So you're going to _die?"_

That's... one way to put it. I'm already dead, really. "I'm afraid so." I say. "I guess it's really only just, after all the people I killed..."

"But that wasn't you, that was the WAU!" Simon bursts, and then he falls abruptly silent, like he doesn't know where the outburst came from.

His next words are hesitant. "I... I don't want to be alone again."

Suddenly, I feel like I'm about to cry again. Funny how that sadness seems so alien to me now, when I haven't been doing anything _but_ cry up until just a few minutes ago. I look down at the floor - I can't stand to look at Simon anymore. "I'm sorry, Simon."

I hear the sound of fabrics scraping together, and the next moment, Simon is sitting on the floor next to me. An unusual sense of warmth tells me he's taken my remaining hand in his. It startles me into looking up at him.

"No, I'm sorry." He sighs. "I feel so selfish. You deserve to be at peace at last." His voice begins to catch. "I'll be here. Until the end." He can't smile, but I hear the warmth in his voice. "What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't here for your vigil?"

A friend. It's true, in a completely fucked up way. I've killed him once. I've tried to kill him once more. And yet he still considers me a friend. What's more, I think I'm starting to think the same.

"Go on. Be at peace." He sighs. "At least you'll have a happy ending."

It's hard to formulate the thought with my failing mind, but he's right, once again. He's going to be alone again, for who knows how many years, until his batteries run out. I used to think that the worst imaginable fate was to be controlled by someone else, but having your mind intact. Now I'm not so sure.

I can't believe the words are coming out of my mouth. "I can... you know..." I nod at my pincer.

He seems to instantly cotton on to what I'm saying. "Would you?" He doesn't sound shocked, only mildly surprised.

"If you want to." I try to smile. "What kind of friend would I be otherwise?"

I know he's come to the same conclusion as I have. There aren't any tools around here that can open his helmet, and he doesn't have a functional omnitool around, so he can't open the airlocks and jump into the abyss. If he doesn't want to wander around Omicron until his batteries run out, this is really the only way.

He nods, and when he speaks, he sounds almost... _relieved._ "Please..."

I continue holding his hand as I use my pincer to open his helmet, and when his Cortex Chip is exposed, I grab it in my pincer like I did last time. I can see him bracing himself.

"I... I'll be quick." Last time, the WAU made me crush his chip slowly, agonizingly, torturously. Not this time. A quick, clean kill. One last kill.

He squeezes my hand, as if to say he understands. Then... "Thank you... Andrea."

My name. He's acknowledging my humanity. Those three words almost take my resolve away from me, but I know I have to stand firm.

I send an impulse to the claw, and it crunches shut as quickly and ferociously as I can. The reaction is remarkably similar to the last time. A spark, a wisp of smoke... and the grasp on my hand is loosened. Simon Jarrett collapses on the floor, obviously dead. Finally dead. No WAU to bring him back this time. No WAU to bring either of us back this time.

I look at him with what would have been a tearful smile, if I had any working tearducts. My vision is almost completely gone. Whether it is because of my processing units failing or because I'm not emitting any more light, I can't tell.

 _No... thank_ you, _Simon._

I feel so tired. I feel so impossibly tired.

It's time.

With the last of my strength, I move to lie down next to him. Because damn it, he's not going to be alone.

It's almost impossible to do so, but I allow myself one final, small smile. Because I know I'll never weep again. The moment before my consciousness evaporates into blackness, I repeat that thought.

 _I'll never weep again._

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Well.**

 **I know this chapter is long, and most likely entirely out of character, unrealistic and all over the place, but damn it all, I wanted as close to a happy ending as these two could have.**

 **Thanks for sticking with this story so far. The epilogue will soon be added.**


	4. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

 _"Is it gonna hurt?"_

 _"Just about as much as having your picture taken. Ready?"_

 _"I guess."_

I wake up to sunlight shining in my face. But it's not the dilated, watery light that would reach us at Omicron. It's... warm.

The realization of where I am hits me like a ball of lead, and I snap open my eyes. I'm not lying in my cot at the crew's quarters. Instead, I'm lying in a soft, luxurious bed with crisp white sheets, looking up at a white ceiling. The walls are painted blue and the whole ensemble is finished with a hardwood floor.

 _So this is the ARK, huh..._ I stand up and stretch my arms out in front of me, before I move towards the open window where the sun is shining in from.

The view is breathtaking. I'm looking out over a crystal clear ocean bay surrounded by mountains. There's a lush forest to the right with a stream running through it, and the air smells fantastic. There's not a cloud on the sky. Dr. Chun really did an amazing job designing this place.

My overalls are nowhere to be seen. Instead, my off-duty clothes are hanging over a chair. I hadn't even looked at them for more than a year before I did the scan, but somehow they knew that these are my favorite clothes.

After dressing, I step out of my room. I appear to be sharing a corridor with some of my erstwhile colleagues at Omicron. There's Dr. Dahl, Claudia Eames and Lisa Cameron, all standing outside in the corridor, looking out the window at the scenery. I nod at them before I proceed to leave the house altogether.

I had heard stories of how it felt to be out in the sun, but nobody in their right mind would be up on the surface after the meteor impact. I'm not sure if this feeling is the real thing either, but the sunlight is warm and the breeze is pleasantly cool. I'll take it, no questions asked.

I head into the woods. I always did enjoy the thought of forests. Just walking among the trees, the feeling of stillness... you'd never get that at an undersea base with the last dregs of humanity.

For a moment, I think about that poor other version of me who was left behind on PATHOS-II, the copy who lost the coin toss. Better her than me, I suppose, but... I feel bad for her. Where is she now? Is she cursing the WAU? Or did the WAU turn her into one of his monsters? I don't know. I guess I never will.

My musings are interrupted when I almost collide with someone. I quickly look up to apologize.

There are two people in front of me. One of them I recognize. Dr. Chun. The other... he's unfamiliar. He looks like he's roughly my age, in his mid-twenties, reasonably good-looking but nothing earth-shattering. He looks like he's very friendly with Dr. Chun, though. That's odd. Nobody ever got close to her.

"Ms. Suther?" Dr. Chun calls out to me.

"Sorry", I reply automatically. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Caught up in the atmosphere, I take it? Don't worry about it." Dr. Chun indicates the newcomer. "Ms. Suther, this is Simon Jarrett. You know, the legacy scan from 2015. Simon, this is Andrea Suther. She used to be an archivist."

"You're an archivist?" Simon asks.

I nod. "Yep. I used to work at Omicron."

Dr. Chun chuckles. "Yeah, she was almost made for the job. If I remember her personnel file correctly, she'd spend her work hours poring over information and filing it almost obsessively. The others at Omicron even used to call her the Robot Girl."

I remember that, yeah. Maybe I was a little too fond of my job. Robot Girl indeed. But...

Why does the nickname make me feel so uneasy all of a sudden?

Oh well. It's probably nothing. I mean, it's not like I ever was a real, literal robot girl, right?

Right?


End file.
